This week, I attended SuccessConnect, the annual customer conference by SAP SuccessFactors, held in Las Vegas from October 2-4, and was able to join numerous customer-led sessions. Here are 10 key takeaways from insights provided by customers who have recently gone through an implementation. For a complete recap of the tech news announced at the show, be sure to check out Jon Reed’s coverage here. Raven Intelligence also released our “Guide to Top SAP SuccessFactors Partners” report this week, which is an important resource if you are a customer considering an implementation of SAP SuccessFactors. Many of these customers cited below utilize implementation partners which are highlighted in our report.
Delta Airlines discussed their initiatives around Employee Engagement which led to improvements in customer satisfaction.
Retail jeweler, Pandora, implemented SAP SuccessFactors during the height of the pandemic and was an ‘analog retailer’ just 3 years ago. SAP SuccessFactors allowed them to provide their employees, mostly ‘deskless workers’, easy access to their data and create a broader approach to hiring. An ‘ah-ha’ moment was realizing their best retail sales employees have a common background – nursing!
Waters Corporation (8,000 employees, manufacturing industry) recently implemented SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, which helped them to create efficiencies within their HR and talent management process. The recommendation was to shift the perspective from viewing an HCM implementation solely as an HR initiative to recognizing it as an organization-wide endeavor, given its impact across the entire organization.
Zimmer Biomet, stressed the importance change management played in the success of their implementation and said that the implementation of Talent Intelligence Hub allows employees to clearly see their value in the organization and take ownership in their career path.
Starbucks, who had utilized SAP’s on-premise system for 23 years, has benefited from the implementation of several SAP SuccessFactors cloud-based modules which allow them to quickly roll out new programs to employees (referred to as ‘partners’.)
Oklahoma Gas & Electric, with 2400 employees and 1600 contingent workers said their 12-month implementation journey was challenging but now gives them the ability to turn their formerly disparate data into knowledge.
EY and Korn Ferry, both leaders in the Professional Services and Management Consulting space, called out the strength of SAP SuccessFactors Performance Management system and its capabilities to develop and grow their employees as the reason they chose and continue to embrace the system.
Perrigo Company (10k employees, manufacturing industry) was previously utilizing an on-premise HCM and has moved to the SAP SuccessFactors full suite cloud in 2021-22. The integration of data across their business, employee/manager self service and change management efforts resulted in a system that provides better visibility to managers and employees. Mcallister’s recommendation was to ‘choose a partner who will dig in along side of your organization’ (which doesn’t always mean the partner whose name brand is easily recognizable.)
COX Media Group, which operates 49 local radio and television stations is currently implementing SAP SuccessFactors (moving away from another cloud vendor which they’d utilized for 5 years). They provided insight on how to prepare for an implementation and recommended finding a consulting partner who could be an extension of the team.
Superior Industries, an 8,000 employee manufacturing company recently implemented the system in just 19 weeks! They said that for that rapid of an implementation, you and your team need to be “all in.” In addition to gaining a more robust and user-friendly system, they also cited cost savings as a benefit of the change.
